Week of November 3rd, 2025

American consumers aren’t feeling great — unless they’re wealthy. Plus: A crowded labor market, mushroom foraging, and the week’s economic headlines.

Ariel Bonkoski of Ariel’s Mushroom Company teaches how to identify and forage wild mushrooms.

And, the state’s data center debate.

The top third of stock owners are more optimistic. Everyone else is a lot more pessimestic.

Facing declining enrollment and competition from online programs, some colleges and universities are choosing to close campuses far from their central location.

The very rich have 1,000 times more wealth than the poorest households, according to a new report. That wealth is not improving the livelihoods of other people in the economy.

In October, small- and mid-sized businesses actually shrank their headcounts, according to payroll processor ADP. That downsizing, said one business owner in Virginia, was due to the “devastating” tariffs.

Some are seeing Pokémon cards as alternative assets — joining the ranks of sneakers, comics, and even crypto.

Over the past two decades, some of the rarest Pokémon cards have increased in value by nearly 4,000%.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s reduction in flights due to the shutdown could see airlines trying to make up for lost revenue by charging more on other routes.

The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring airlines to reduce flights at 40 airports amid the longest federal government shutdown ever.

From the BBC World Service: ITV is in talks with Sky, owned by Comcast, to sell its TV business for roughly $2 billion.

After all, odds are no one will die if you don’t forward that report before tomorrow morning.

Maria Curi, tech policy reporter at Axios, joins Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino on “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”

Last month saw the most October layoffs in 20 years. Plus: unsold new homes, flight reductions, and robot upskilling.

There are more unsold, newly-constructed homes than at any time since 2009.

The school trains automation engineers for automated factories. China’s manufacturing sector is desperate for skilled workers.

Maybe, but even the ones that want to be environmentally friendly face energy challenges.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it will cut thousands of flights due to the shutdown, citing safety concerns.

Without more detailed data from the federal government, it’s hard to know.

We’ll unpack the promise of quantum computing.

Alana Ferko has worked at the Butte Plaza Mall for 40 years. In a month, she’ll be fully retired.

A Denver neighborhood has plenty of air pollution sources: a dog food factory, an oil refinery, a highway. Now, an AI data center will be added to the list.

Are tariffs a form of taxation, a form of foreign policy, or both? The Wall Street Journal’s Jess Bravin discusses.

Data centers could produce “digital smog” by increasing power plant emissions and relying on backup generators during blackouts.

The view from one location in Central California.

Lawyers for the administration are arguing that Trump’s tariffs are a foreign policy measure. The justices don’t seem to be buying that take.

From the BBC World Service: But leaders of China, India, and the U.S. will not be at the climate summit. What can the conference achieve without them?

Former Philadelphia Fed President Pat Harker proposes using a tax on big tech companies to fund education programs for local communities.

Private sector jobs data reflect a stalled market. Plus: How tariff rates are set.

Southwest’s customer of size policy gave larger-bodied passengers a rare break on the cost of an extra seat. The airline will cut that accommodation early next year.

Plus, how communities are stepping up to feed their neighbors.

ADP’s monthly report shows private firms added jobs in October, for the first time since July. Meanwhile, Indeed data shows job openings slumped at the end of October.

First-time buyers are going in one direction, while experienced buyers and sellers with equity are going in another.

Today, we unpack private investment, private credit, as well as private jobs data. Also: a look at economic sentiment among farmers.

The difference in farmer sentiment between livestock producers and crop growers is the largest in the history of Purdue’s Farmer Sentiment Survey.

The law in question doesn’t mention tariffs. But the president also has wide latitude in setting the foreign-policy agenda.

Generally speaking, “private” means “less regulation.”

October's 6.7% drop followed a spike in late summer before subsidies expired.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today on whether President Donald Trump can use emergency powers to levy tariffs.

From the BBC World Service: The fast-fashion giant was hoping to celebrate its first physical store opening in Paris today, but a dark cloud hangs over the retailer.

It’s moving east. What does that mean for farmers and the world?

Rya Jetha, tech culture reporter at The San Francisco Standard, profiled 20 male tech entrepreneurs and found they lean more conservative and have less of a focus on consumer-facing technology.

For Todd Adams of Sanitube U.S., and Katie Lazar of Cain Vineyard & Winery, tariffs have created new obstacles to business.

Plus, small businesses tell us how they’re feeling about the tariffs.

There’s a whole list of alternative tariffs the administration could deploy— but they might require investigations, include time limits on them, or need Congressional authorization.

The process could take months.

Blake Emerson of UCLA Law breaks down the legal arguments and economic stakes as the Court hears arguments about Trump’s tariffs.

Plus, what one Supreme Court case could mean for the future Trump’s tariffs.

The recent publicity could allow the company to get a good deal on Kenvue, which makes Tylenol, Band-Aids, and other household products.

Kimberly-Clark’s stock closed down 14% yesterday after it gambled big on the maker of Tylenol.

“In the last six months, the tariff rate on products like we make in Cambodia coming into the U.S. has gone from 0% to 49% to 10% to 36% to 19%,” said Ben Knepler of True Places.

Nonprofits that do work the administration objects to — like helping support transgender or undocumented people — could see employees disqualified from the loan forgiveness program.

“The manufacturing for our category of products just doesn't even exist in the U.S.,” said Ben Knepler, co-founder of the company True Places.

From the BBC World Service: Starbucks is selling the majority stake of its business in China as part of a $4 billion deal.

A recent analysis found that, when prompted, OpenAI’s Sora 2 AI system would create life-like videos based on provably false claims, according to NewsGuard senior editor Sofia Rubinson.

They’re real. But many are hiding in drawers and collections!

As Americans splash out more cash on Halloween with every passing year, some households are dropping $1,000 or more on custom porch decor.

After selling a home that she loved to move with her husband, Meg Tipton says she missed that house everyday. That is, until a familiar address showed up on Zillow.

It’s hard to say. Plus: Rare earths, a dream home, pumpkinscaping and global oil.

42 million Americans rely on SNAP.

The cartel is trying to undercut the U.S. and other nonmember exporters.

As China has begun to impose restrictions on rare earths, a one-year pause not withstanding, the U.S. is racing to build up its own supply chain.

Manufacturing is up. Manufacturing is down. And there’s no government data to help settle the question.

Many in the treatment industry view patients cycling in and out of rehab as a part of their business model.

That's the question before the Supreme Court this week. Also: the dark side of the drug rehab industry.

“Many of our food banks are currently distributing the food that they typically stockpile for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season,” said Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance CEO Sylvia Blain.

With SNAP benefits beginning to dry up this past weekend, we’ll hear about the state of food insecurity in Arkansas.

In response to U.S. trade restrictions, China has stopped exporting crucial chips used by automakers across North America. That’s already slowing down production of some models.

From the BBC World Service: Markets met the easing of trade hostilities between the U.S. and China with relief on Monday.

The founder and former head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX is appealing his fraud conviction.